QNAP TS-233-24WD-US 2 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured RAID 1 WD Red Plus HDD Bundle, with 1GbE Ports

I got tired of my home network music access working when it felt like it, so looked into using a NAS and chose this QNAP model after reading reviews. I have some IT experience but no longer work in it so this was admittedly a tad complicated, but I also admit I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like asking for directions when I'm lost. I realized at the mid-point I was complicating things by *not* stopping and making sure the home network access was solid before worrying about the online cloud part of things. The unit itself is not large and the process of adding either size SATA drives was easy. On a desk shelf, it is a bit noisy as you can hear a bit of hum and vibration when the hard drive or drives are spinning. The power cable is a tad short in my humble opinion. You start by installing a "Q-Finder" app on your computer attached to the same network, and step-by-step the software walks you through assigning an admin login and setup on your LAN. Once you wade into the out-of-home access arena is where I had problems, but when I realized I didn't want that, the rest fell into place. There are tweaks you make with the QNAP *and* the devices you want to use to access the files to get it all to work. Go slow and careful and use the Help and online searches and it comes together. Your phone, tablet or other device will need to login the first time with your admin name and password to see and play the files but once you are thru that hoop the fun begins. This QNAP plays MP3s more quickly and without any hiccups than several server apps I used for years on Windows. The QNAP has it's own processor and RAM so it is way faster producing file lists and starting playback. The user interface on the computer is quite nice too. Between the cost of the QNAP and a nice fast 3.5" 2TB hard drive I had $300 invested but I am happy with the results.I didn't have to contact tech support so that was a win. I could also enable an external drive connected by USB for access. Be aware that using a pre-loaded drive on the inside is not the idea--the QNAP formats/erases any drive you install internally.Hope this review was helpful.

I am giving the NAS five stars for quality and ease of use once it is setup. It receives four stars for difficulty of setup. The manual tells you how to install the hard drive and download the app, any of assistance is not covered. I had to search You Tube for a tutorial video by an independent publisher.Once setup it is smooth sailing from there. This NAS runs $30-40.00 cheaper than all the others here on Amazon or anywhere else. It s a high quality product with a solid build. I set this up on a Mac and it was discovered right away without a problem. I highly recommend that you checkut before shelling out more money for something that does the same thing.

I purchased this primarily as a photo storage device, and I’m very happy with the storage capacity—it’s generous and handles large files with ease. This is definitely a product geared toward more advanced users. The setup process wasn’t exactly plug-and-play, even though they do provide a QR code and app to assist.There’s a fair amount of customization and configuration needed before you can fully start using it. If you’re tech-savvy or familiar with NAS setups, you’ll probably appreciate the flexibility and control. But for the average user, be prepared for a bit of a learning curve.That said, once it’s up and running, it performs very well. Fast access, reliable storage, and plenty of features make it a strong option for serious users who want a high-performance backup and storage solution.

Had an old TS-212 that was working fine but getting pretty old and was quite slow at times. It is so old that system updates stopped working.Removed the hard drives from the 212 and put them in the 233 and fired it up. Pretty much everything came up just like before with the same data, login and password but a lot faster. Only the network address changed but QFinder gave me the new address.The 233 wanted system updates, which took a little while.Have an external USB drive for real-time backups and had to find the app for that (HBS3 - Hybrid Backup Sync 3) and load and configure it again.Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this unit.Only negative is the on-line tutorials barely help. The main issue is they are mostly long videos and one has to wait for them to get to the point, if possible. Sometimes it may not be the correct video so 5 minutes are wasted wading thru it. Their PDF qts5.0x user manual is better.Update 8/3/2023Been running for 10 months. Failed yesterday - seemed to be running but no Ethernet communication and so can't talk to it. Ended up pulling the older and slower QNAP 212 unit out of storage and using that to get up and running again. This 233 is in the trash. Bought a new 233 that installed quickly and is running fine.Update 8/22/23Have downgraded my rating from 3 to 1 star.I'm done with QNAP. I am disgusted with this model. The second 233 quit today with exactly the same symptom of the prior 233.

Cant figure out how to log on to it, an expensive paper weight.UPDATEI figured out how to log on to it, WORKS GREAT!!